A life shaped by borders and streets Lazar Meyer arrived in Paris from Fegersheim following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The occupation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire had prompted him to move with his brother, Léopold, seeking a different life in the 18th arrondissement. His early years in the city were marked by the heavy atmosphere of the Commune. He served as a secretary for a section during those turbulent days and faced arrest and imprisonment near the Île de Ré. Though he was nearly deported, the court eventually acquitted him because he had not taken up arms. He settled…